Target Walleye/Ice email

Night trolling cranks tip, Witch walleye caught, Why orange works

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Today’s Top 4

White-tips of the week!
Walleyes have been stacked up at 71-76′ on Erie and Brent Long is going in after ’em with Bay Rat Long Extra Deep Divers. Said they’ll run 25′ on their own, but with 4-oz snap weights — 180-190′ back at 2.3-2.6 mph — he can get ’em to run 50-55′. Chrome colors like “cheap sunglasses” [lol] have been best when the sun’s out:
Shawn Steward cracked this 12-lb 6-oz sand dragon on the North Saskatchewan River using a Moonshine Shiver Minnow [heart-eyes emoji]:
Cole Vanderlinden stuck this 29 5/8″ humpback near Detroit Lakes, MN pulling leadcore with a #7 Berkley Flicker Shad in 32′:
Ted Peck guided Bill Powers to his new PB with this Mississippi River 12.7-lber (31.25″) they plucked outta pool 9. Caught it chuckin’ a Bill Lewis Echo 1.75 squarebill (not just for bass!) at a rockpile just off the main channel:
Guide Joe Testa put 9yo Benny on this quality Michigan white-tip (and several others) using his lucky Okuma Helios reel. Can’t tell who looks happier:

> Joe also said: “Absolutely love Target Walleye! Super fun and helpful….”

Thx dude! Glad you dig it.

How Joel Nelson chooses lures for night-trolling walleyes.

Don’t just tie on any old crankbait or stickbait this weekend, let the water temps tell you which is best. Joel Nelson likes Shallow Shad Raps earlier in the fall…RIGHT NOW…until water temps dip below that magical 50-degree mark. Then he ties on big #12 and #14 Husky Jerks:

Casting or trolling for fall walleyes?

Seen a few comments online saying that trolling crankbaits — instead of casting — is like “riding a bike with training wheels.”

Of course there’s a time and place for both techniques. Here’s what Fishing 411 TV’s Mark Romanack says:

> Casting is ideal when fishing specific targets like a weed edge, riprap, rocky shorelines, points, Great Lakes piers or other physical features that attract walleyes.

> The ability to make long casts is critical to success. Long casts reach out to spooky fish and also allow crankbaits to dive to greater depths. The best rods for casting crankbaits are 7′ to 8′ spinning combos loaded with 8-lb line.

> Trolling is the best way to target walleye in open water. Trolling can make short work of suspended fish, fish scattered on sprawling flats or meandering shorelines. Off Shore Tackle planer boards are essential for spreading out lines and covering the maximum amount of water.

> As with casting presentations, some excellent walleye trolling takes place after dark. Tape a cyalume stick to the flag of the in-line board for fishing after dark. This simple trick makes it easy to detect bites even in total darkness.

Mark said one of his favorites is Yo-Zuri’s Crystal Minnow series because they come in 3 progressively larger sizes up to 5.25″. Bigger is usually better in fall…like:

Mark has a pile of info on using big baits for fall walleyes in the full write-up here.

“Witch” wore it better?

Hank Tremblay caught that wart-nosed wally somewhere in Ontario. Always thought witches melted in water…?

News

1. NAIFC schedule announced.

The North American Ice Fishing Circuit. Registration opens Nov 15. Here ’tis:

Lake Metigoshe, ND – Jan 7
Hebgen Lake, MT – Jan 14
TBA, MN – Jan 28
Antioch Channel, IL – Feb 4
Lake Maxinkuckee, IN – Feb 11
Lake St Helen, MI – Feb 18
Lake Menomin, WI – Feb 25
Bitter Lake, SD – Mar 4

2. Still no ice up at Lake of the Woods.

Surprise, right? We warned Dan Stefanich from Clam, but he insisted on driving north anyways to check for himself. All he found was a pile of jig-eatin’ walleyes, which sounds like a decent consolation prize:

Hang in there, Dan…. The hard stuff will be here quicker than we think.

3. Walleyes can get stung by wasps.

This one did anyway, but it was Justin Roswick’s fault:

Bait’s called a Rattlin’ Wasp and has a super intense wobble…sort of like bees that have had too much nectar:

4. WI lake drawdown to kill exotic veggies won’t work…

…but they’re gonna try it anyway? Or something like that. They want to kill milfoil and “starry stonewort, a fast-growing large algae,” near shore on Little Muskego.

5. FishUSA has Berkley Snap Jigs in stock!

A winged jighead with a gliding/darting action that we showed you at ICAST this summer. Allows you to swap out the body with your favorite plastics to quickly change the color, action and profile:

Walleye pro Korey Sprengel likes matching it with a 3″ Pro Twitchtail Minnow or 3″ Pro Jig Worm. Check it:

6. MI: 6K juvie sturgeon stocked.

When is Savage Gear gonna come up with a small sturgeon crankbait?

7. FishUSA has all Rapalas on sale.

Buy 2 and get the 3rd FO’ FREE. Didn’t say how long the sale lasts, so hop on it.

8. B.A.S.S. sold most of itself…to itself (sort of).

Group called Anderson Media bought a controlling interest (majority of shares) of B.A.S.S. — but sounds like they already owned part of B.A.S.S. so….

9. BoatTest.com lookin’ for a full-time editor.

10. Win a new Okuma Epixor XT spinning reel.

Purtty new thang from Okuma. Check ’em out at FishUSA.

Tip of the Day

Lots of fishing reports specifically call out orange as a “must-have” color…here’s why you need to be throwing it in certain systems — especially those with invasive rusty crayfish:

Video Meme of the Day

Couldn’t help ourselves…. Send this to a bassin’ buddy that’ll “appreciate” it:

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

Olivia Michaud prefers her Octo-brrrr pumpkin spice on the fly:

Sign up another fish-head!

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Check this stuff out!

Who is Target Walleye/Ice?
Target Walleye/Ice — walleye during open water and all species during hardwater — is brought to you by Al and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-nuts like you! #fishheads
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye/Ice. He was discovered in Brainerd, MN after years of wondering how in the heck people break into the fishing biz. He’s in it now, but still can’t answer that question…. Brett is one of those guys who majored in marketing, only because there was no such thing as a “fishing degree” at the time…. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com

To send us walleye pics, ice shots or whatever, just respond to this email or click here to email us. Or post it on the Target Walleye Facebook page.

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